IPL: Are there fertile grounds ahead?

Incitec Pivot (ASX:IPL) is a global manufacturer, exporter and distributor of industrial explosives, fertilisers, and chemicals primarily to the agriculture, mining, and construction industries. The current listed entity has come about due to a number of business acquisitions over many years.

The origins of the fertilisers business are traced back to 1919. Pivot Limited and Incitec Fertilisers merged in 2003 to create IPL, this was the same year that IPL listed on the ASX, and three years later they purchased Southern Cross Fertilisers. With the final piece of the puzzle falling into place in 2008 with the acquisition of USA based Dyno Nobel Limited.
IPL breaks their operations up into two geographical segments Asia Pacific (APAC) and Americas. The APAC region comprises two businesses: Fertilisers APAC and Dyno Nobel APAC (NDAPAC). Their fertiliser business manufactures and sells fertilisers on the east coast and to the export market and is Australia’s largest domestic manufacturer and supplier of fertilisers by volume. It also manufactures, imports, and sells industrial chemicals to the agricultural sector and other industries. Their DNAPAC business manufactures and sells industrial explosives and related products and services...